Affliction, Part 6
by Salamander
Summary: The girls talk about Kylee. And then Kylee's . . . trying to do the right thing?! ::gasp:: :)


Disclaimer: Ky, Patric, Lucy, Hank, and Kevin are all mine, bay-bee! The others, well, aren't. So don't sue!  
  
Notes: I just keep adding stuff to the storyline. ::sighs:: The way this is going, this story will take forever to write AND read. Sorry. Also, sorry for such a short part this time. I just kinda got settled in at college, so other parts may take a while for me to post. Sorry. Again.  
  
Also, now that I'm in college, I can't always get access to Fanfiction.net. They have some kind of block on it, but it doesn't quite work right. Every once in a while I can get through. Ugh! It's a bother.  
  
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"She's human around her brother," Shelby commented. She was lounging lazily on her bed.  
  
"I think it's sweet. She's protecting him." Juliette had been much more comfortable around Kylee since Patric had come to visit her. The boy seemed to make his sister a better person, even while she tried to make sure he didn't wind up like her.  
  
"Yeah, she's protecting him." Daisy nodded, her back reclining against a pillow on Shelby's bed. "The question is: what is she protecting him from? There's something wrong with her mother. And while Kylee may be trying to hide it from herself, there is definitely something wrong with Hank, too."  
  
"Daisy, let it go. Everyone's family isn't screwed up. Mine isn't." Kat frowned from behind an endless pile of college applications.  
  
"Maybe she's just making sure he doesn't wind up being a psycho screw up like she is. Don't be so paranoid, Daisy." Shelby began to fiddle with the end of her comforter out of boredom.  
  
"You don't like her, huh?" Daisy smirked at the blonde.  
  
"Does anybody? She's nuts. She's rude. -- "  
  
"She's scary," Juliette added.  
  
Shelby nodded in agreement. "Right! She's scary in a psychotic way! Who likes psychos?! I sure don't want to be killed in my sleep because I looked at her funny. -- "  
  
"I'm sure it's not like that." Kat finally looked up from the mountain of papers at her feet. "She's too impulsive to do that. If you got her angry, she'd kill you a split second later."  
  
Shelby nodded and pointed to Katherine as she looked back to Daisy. "Another good point! She's nuts!"  
  
Daisy shook her head, adamant on her position. "The key lies with her mom. I can see it. The way Ky and her mom looked at each other . . . there was a lot more than anger."  
  
Shelby was silent for a moment, recalling something. "Ky said something weird when she was talking to us about her tattoo. She said her mom was psycho."  
  
"What's weird about that?" Juliette had been sitting on her bed, legs crossed, since the conversation had begun. She was very interested in it.  
  
"Of course her mom." Daisy grinned somewhat smugly. "See? Her mom just keeps coming up."  
  
"You know what bothers me about her family?" Kat had a weird, almost far-away look in her eyes. "Her brother. He seems genuinely scared of their mom, yet he's really loyal to her. He won't let Ky say anything bad about her."  
  
"It's all about her mother," Daisy let out in a song-song manner. In a normal voice, she continued, "I'm telling you, there is something wrong with that woman."  
  
"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. Ky's a bitch. If her family hadn't come, . . . " Shelby trailed off.  
  
"Shel, she's new. Give her some slack." Kat frowned disapprovingly. "Besides, if it's true about the Feds, I'm sure she's had her own share of annoyances."  
  
"Oh, please! You guys don't actually believe that, do you?! It's so obvious that it was a try for attention!"  
  
Daisy shook her head. "No. She doesn't lie. She'll skirt around issues and word things funny, but she won't lie, which makes her even more of an enigma."  
  
"That's why you like her, huh?" Shelby looked behind her toward Daisy. "She's a huge mystery."  
  
"Everyone loves a good mystery."  
  
The door opened unexpectedly, and Ky entered. Everyone quieted down, but she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice. A weird change from the normally alert face she would put on when she entered a room.  
  
See, Kylee was dealing with a moral dilemma. Yes, a moral dilemma. Which was something she wasn't used to. She was used to acting and then regretting things later. If she regretted them at all. But this was much different. How do people deal with moral decisions? She had no idea. The last one that she had faced was when she had to decide whether or not she was going to give in and actually buy that 5ive CD. Which actually was, in a very weird and twisted way, a moral issue.  
  
Somewhat numbly, Ky walked over to her bed and slumped onto it in a haphazard way. She was not equipped to make such a big decision, and she knew it. "Kat?" Katherine could help. Guide the poor young soul to a good decision. After all, she did seem to be the most centered person in their dorm.  
  
The older girl, who had been watching her the whole time, nodded, even though Ky wasn't looking at her. "Yes?"  
  
"How do people make moral decisions? I . . . I don't quite get it. It's too hard."  
  
Shelby raised an eyebrow and turned toward Ky. "It's no supposed to be easy," came her somewhat snotty remark.  
  
Kat shrugged and talked before Ky got the chance to insult Shelby back. "It's different for every person."  
  
"Yeah! I know!" Kylee rolled over on her bed. "I'm morally corrupt; you're obviously not. We have different ways of making those kind of decisions. But this is really important. Vitally. It has to do with Patric."  
  
"What's wrong with Patric?" Juliette liked the little boy. A lot! He was such a sweetie!  
  
"Nothing's wrong with him. There's something wrong with me."  
  
Shelby snorted. "Now there's a revelation."  
  
Daisy frowned and tapped Shelby with her foot firmly. Whatever was going on was obviously important; Shelby didn't need to make things worse. "What's wrong?"  
  
Ky sighed. "I can't tell you. I could get in huge trouble if anyone in authority found out."  
  
Kat raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with Patric?"  
  
"He . . . ummm . . . told me he was proud of me. And that he wanted me to keep doing good. And that he didn't want me in trouble. I can't just disappoint him! And even if he didn't find out, it'd kill me to know I was doing something he'd hate."  
  
Kat nodded. "Okay. Sooo . . . what's so difficult about this decision then?"  
  
"I don't know if I can just say no to this. I don't know if I can live if I do. -- "  
  
"This has to do with drugs, doesn't it?" Shelby studied Kylee, getting interested in the conversation.  
  
Ky shrugged. "In a sense. But . . . it's bigger than that. In a way. I think. Aw!" She threw her hands in the air. "Who the fuck cares! Screw Kevin! Patric's more important to me."  
  
"Who's Kevin?" He almost sounded like a friend to Juliette. But the way Ky talked about the guy made the other girl wonder.  
  
Ky snarled loathingly. "My brother." That part of the conversation faded away with her snarl.  



End file.
